Elon Musk Lays Out Plans to Meld Brains and Computers

Startup Neuralink aims to treat disabled and ultimately
create a new language of ‘consensual telepathy’

By Rolfe Winkler Updated April 20, 2017 11:26 p.m. ET

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Thursday confirmed
plans for his newest company, called Neuralink Corp., revealing he will be the
chief executive of a startup that aims to merge computers with brains so humans
could one day engage in “consensual telepathy.”

Speaking to writer Tim Urban on the explainer website
Wait But Why, Mr. Musk confirmed a Wall Street Journal report last month that
Neuralink aims to implant tiny brain electrodes that first would be used to
fight brain conditions but later help humanity avoid subjugation at the hands
of intelligent machines.

A Neuralink spokesman said Mr. Musk plans to serve as the
chief executive, adding another CEO role to his already busy schedule running
electric-car maker Tesla Inc. and rocket company Space Exploration Technologies
Corp. Mr. Musk couldn’t be reached for comment through the spokesman.

“There are a bunch of concepts in your head that then
your brain has to try to compress into this incredibly low data rate called
speech or typing,” Mr. Musk told Mr. Urban in his 36,000-word blog post, which
at times reads like a neuroscience textbook. “That’s what language is, your
brain has executed a compression algorithm on thought, on concept transfer.

“If you have two brain interfaces, you could actually do
an uncompressed direct conceptual communication with another person,” Mr. Musk
said. He explained how it would be easier if people could beam a picture into
the heads of others instead of trying to describe it with words.

But first Mr. Musk is looking for more realistic
applications of Neuralink’s technology. He said that in about four years
Neuralink hopes to market a device that would help treat severe brain injuries,
including strokes, cancer lesions, paralysis and memory problems. The strategy
is similar to SpaceX and Tesla, where Mr. Musk developed new rocket and
electric-car technologies, proved they work, and is now using them to pursue
more ambitious projects.

“I think we are about eight to 10 years away from this
being usable by people with no disability,” Mr. Musk said in the post. “It is
important to note that this depends heavily on regulatory approval timing and
how well our devices work on people with disabilities.”

Mr. Musk has spoken out about the dangers of being left
behind by the advancements of artificial intelligence. “The pace of progress in
this direction matters a lot,” Mr. Musk said in Thursday’s post. “We don’t want
to develop digital superintelligence too far before being able to do a merged
brain-computer interface.”

There are several challenges to developing the
technology—miniaturizing electrodes, making them much more technically
sophisticated as well as compatible with and implantable in brain matter.
Neuralink wants its interface to operate wirelessly of course, so it will have
to find a way to convert brain signals to digital signals, and send huge
amounts of data into and out of the brain.

Mr. Musk’s comments come a day after Facebook Inc.
announced similar ambitions. “What if you could type directly from your brain?”
asked Regina Dugan, who runs Facebook’s secretive hardware division Building 8,
during a keynote address at the company’s F8 developer conference Wednesday.
Facebook job postings show the company is looking to hire engineers to work on
“brain-computer interface” technology.

Neuralink is in hiring mode, too. Its new website is
essentially a list of open positions in San Francisco, mostly for a range of
engineers. First on the list is a “microfabrication engineer” to lead
development of a new class of “biological probes.”

—Deepa Seetharaman contributed to this article.

Write to Rolfe Winkler at rolfe.winkler@wsj.com

Appeared in the Apr. 21, 2017, print edition as 'Elon
Musk To Meld Brains and Computers.'

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